UK Travellers Reject Mobile Calls on Flights
A recent poll revealed that the majority of UK holidaymakers would not like to see the use of mobile phones permitted on their cheap flights to Europe and beyond.
A poll carried out by independent consumer website Mobile Phone Expert asked 1,000 travellers whether they supported the change to the law that permits passengers to make mobile phone calls and to send texts after take-off. Some 38 per cent of respondents said that it would disturb the tranquillity of their flights, although 34 per cent said that they approved of a relaxation in the policy. Another 28 per cent of respondents said that they were not bothered whether phone calls were allowed or not.
The age of travellers made a difference to their attitude – when it came to over-35s, 49 per cent said that it would bother them if people made calls on flights, whereas only 30 per cent of younger respondents would have been disturbed.
Last year, cheap flights carrier Ryanair became the first European airline to relax the rules on in-flight mobile phone usage. The airline is now in the process of rolling out the availability of mobile calls throughout its fleet.
Mobile Phone Expert commercial director Rob Webber commented: "Airlines are obviously under pressure to compete for business by differentiating themselves in any way that they can."
"We would have thought, however, that over the 35s would provide an attractive demographic for the travel sector. If half of them feel strongly enough to avoid travelling with a particular airline because it allows mobile phone calls during the flight, then this small change to the rules could have a huge impact on an airline's business."
Travel Industry News posted by 
on 20 September 2010
